Nothing is as frustrating as knowing there is something wrong with your baby and having nobody believing you. Christian Peter Traverse is my first born and the light of my life. He was born in 2001 and was for the most part, a bubbly, happy baby. Happy until out of the blue, the shrills of his screams would penetrate the quiet, shattering the illusion of normalcy. As Christian grew older, more disturbing symptoms began to appear. Certain sounds, textures or even a mere touch would cause him to painfully scream and hit himself repeatedly. No matter who we consult about this disturbing behaviour, we were assured that it was nothing, it was just a stage that Christian was going through and he will get over it. He never got over it. The older Christian got, the more aggressive his behaviour would become. A haircut was a traumatic event. Making friends was difficult. Not because he shied away from kids, but because he would invade their space by doing things like hugging them without permission, or follow them around everywhere, made the kids uncomfortable. Help finally came when a teacher noticed this behaviour and suspected Christian had a condition known as autism. With our permission, she set forth the events that eventually led to his diagnosis of high functioning autism. He was nine years old. With the proper support, Christian is doing well now and is a thriving, happy 12 year old boy that is looking forward to his birthday in a couple of months where he will be a "cool teenager". I have so many people that I am grateful for that helped shed a light onto our darkness. The picture you see is with one of the many people we call Christian's Angels. It is his sixth grade teacher who has become like a second mother to him.

Tina Traverse
CONCEPTION BAY SOUTH, Canada